Friday, April 19, 2013

More of my sketches from Bali, mostly from the southern area of Jimbaran.

View from the balcony of our hotel in Ubud. Pen and ink and experimenting with watercolor pencils. Not very successful, I think, because I didn't know what I was doing with those pencils, and it's been forever since I've done any work in watercolor. And I was never great at watercolor in the first place.

Landscape from the private beach at the resort in Jimbaran. All watercolor pencils, more successful, I think.

And finally on the way home. Layover at Chicago O'Hare Airport, after about 20 hours in the air.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Some more drawings from my recent trip to Asia. These are from the town of Ubud, considered the cultural center of Bali. The area is full of artists and craftsmen, and there are traditional dance performances every night at the temples.

Detail of the rooftop of our hotel.

Statue at the Ubud Palace

Between our hotel and the town was the Monkey Forest Road, which is exactly what it sounds like.

Quick sketches from a performance of the Ramayana Ballet, performed at the beautiful Water Palace. It was one of the traditional forms of Balinese dance known as Legong, with an all-female gamelan musical band. These are all very quick sketches, or course, and only suggest at the elaborateness of the costumes.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Recently we went to Singapore and Bali for two weeks. It was only the second time I've been overseas and my first trip to Asia.

This is a statue on Sentosa Island of the "merlion," the ancient mythic symbol of the Singaporean peoples. Actually, it's not ancient. It was created by the Singapore Tourism Board in 1964. This statue stands about 121 feet tall. To get a sense of scale, there's an observation platform in the merlion's mouth.

These are of the Sultan Mosque, from the Arab Street area.

One of the kookiest and most interesting spots in Singapore is Haw Par Villa, a sort of amusement park created by the owner of the company that makes Tiger Balm. Most of the place features statues and dioramas of Chinese mythology, especially lurid, explicit depictions of the Ten Courts of Hell. But there was also a couple of these cute Tiger Balm mascot statues. They look like they're circa 1960s.

We stayed with our friends at a fancy residential complex. This was the community clubhouse by the pool.

The Gardens by the Bay, as seen from the top of the Singapore Flyer, a giant ferris wheel. The two oblong buildings are giant greenhouses, and those structures to the right of it are "supertrees," giant vertical gardens. Beyond it you can see dozens of ships waiting to come into port.